COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Alabama Beats North Carolina

Melvin Cheatum scored 19 of his 23 points in the final nine minutes Thursday night as Alabama handed No. 12 North Carolina its second consecutive loss, 101-93, Thursday night at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Tar Heels (2-2), who lost to Missouri, 80-73, Sunday night in the championship game of the Maui tournament, led only briefly at the beginning of each half in their first meeting with Alabama since 1982.

North Carolina scored the first four points of the second half to take a 45-44 lead, but Keith Askins hit a three-point shot with 17:45 remaining and the Crimson Tide (4-0) never trailed again, winning its 18th consecutive home game.

Cheatum, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, hit a bank shot with 9:04 left after the Tar Heels tied the game, 61-61, and scored 14 of Alabama’s next 20 points to boost the lead to 83-73 with 2:36 left.

North Carolina never got within five the rest of the game.

Rick Fox led the Tar Heels with 20 points. Hubert Davis had 19, Scott Williams 16 and Pete Chilcutt 12. North Carolina committed 23 turnovers to only 13 for Alabama.

No. 4 Kansas 87, Idaho 58--Terry Brown led the Jayhawks with 19 points and six rebounds at Lawrence, Kan.

Brown made four three-point field goals and Kansas (5-0) was eight of 16 from three-point range.

Mark Randall added 17 points for the Jayhawks and Jeff Gueldner was four of four from three-point range, and finished with 13 points.

Wake Forest 69, Evansville 64--Anthony Tucker’s 15-foot jump shot in overtime helped the Demon Deacons break the Aces’ streak of 34 consecutive regular-season home victories at Evansville, Ind.

Tucker hit the winning jump shot at 4:07 of the extra period as the Demon Deacons outscored the Aces, 13-8, in overtime. Wake Forest scored its final four points on free throws.

Fresno St. 72, McNeese State 71--Wilbert Hooker’s 14 points included a three-point goal at the buzzer that lifted the Bulldogs at Lake Charles, La.

The Bulldogs improved to 2-1. McNeese State, which led, 28-25, at halftime, fell to 0-2.

Todd Peebles finished with 18 points, and Carlo Williams had 11 points and nine rebounds for Fresno.

Anthony Pullard’s 23 points led McNeese State. Derrick Turner added 17 and Mark Thompson scored 13.

Purdue 65, Utah 63--Charles White scored on a baseline drive with 36 seconds remaining and the Boilermakers survived a pair of three-point attempts in the final seconds at Salt Lake City.

Tony Jones led Purdue (2-0) with 16 points. White added 13 and Jimmy Oliver, and Loren Clyburn finished with 11 each. Utah (2-1) was led by Josh Grant with 15 points. Keith Chapman scored 14 and Phil Dixon added 13.

Villanova 93, St. Francis 72--Tom Greis scored 21 points for the Wildcats at Villanova, Pa.

Brigham Young 71, Utah State 65--Marty Haws scored 21 points and Andy Toolson added 16 for the Cougars at Logan, Utah.

Colorado 81, Wyoming 77--Shaun Vandiver scored 24 points, including 18 in the second half, to lead the Buffaloes at Boulder, Colo.

San Diego St. 67, UC Riverside 61--Shawn Jamison scored 13 points as the Aztecs (2-2) scored 16 of the game’s final 18 points at San Diego.

UC Riverside dropped to 2-1.

University of San Diego 73, North Texas 60--John Jerome scored 21 of his game-high 28 points in the first half to lead the Toreros at Denton, Tex.